Andrew Evangelista, 15, of San Ramon gets a kick out a Lego Mindstorm Robot as it lifts up off the floor while he was demonstrating how it works. Evangelista made the robot who's motions are programmed from a computer. (CHRONICLE PHOTO SAM DEANER)

Photo: SAM DEANER

Andrew Evangelista, 15, of San Ramon gets a kick out a Lego...

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The Lego Mindstorm Robot's motions are programmed from a computer using the device at left of the Lego Robot. (CHRONICLE PHOTO SAM DEANER)

Photo: SAM DEANER

The Lego Mindstorm Robot's motions are programmed from a computer...

MindStorms Not Mind-Blowing / New Lego robot toys are fun but fail to hold teen's interest

When my son, Andrew, was 7, he loved Legos. He was an intense Lego builder, spending hours concentrating on building one huge Lego ship or fort.

And then he couldn't wait for the next trip down to Toys R Us to bring home another Lego kit.

Yet by the time he was 11, the Lego creations that filled his room became dust magnets as Andrew turned to more typical teenage pursuits, like video games, baseball, music and talking on the phone with friends.

MindStorms combines the familiar Lego plastic building bricks with one big yellow brick called the RCX that contains an 8-bit computer processor. The RCX is the brain that turns an ordinary Lego creation into a robot you can program to perform tricks like following an outlined path or detecting intruders with a light sensor.

You also need a PC (there is no Macintosh version so far) with speakers to use the programing software and tutorial that comes with MindStorms. An infrared transmitter attached to the PC's serial port beams programs from the computer into the RCX brick.

Among the 700-plus pieces in the basic MindStorms package, which retails for about $200, are two bricks with motors and two bricks with touch- and light-activated sensors to control movement.

Aimed at ages 11 and up, MindStorms is available at retailers such as Toys R Us and selected Target and FAO Schwarz outlets. Sets also are sold through www.legomindstorms.com.

You can use standard Lego bricks to build bigger robots, or buy $50 add-on sets available sets with parts like claws, hands and arms that Lego says enables MindStorms robots to shoot hoops, slap hockey pucks and "stalk, prey and attack intruders."

Lego of Denmark worked with some high-powered brains from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop MindStorms.

The idea is to get kids to learn a bit of basic computer programming and engineering, fire up their creativity and, along the way, get them hooked on Legos again.

Andrew tried MindStorms, which succeeded in stimulating his imagination and in applying some basic programming skills he already is learning in a high school class, and . . . oh well, two out of three ain't bad.

Andrew reacted with a typical teenager's ennui to the prospect of playing with a "toy." Still, he immediately jumped in and built the "top secret" Torbot based on plans laid out in the back of the MindStorms booklet.

"Once a Lego builder, always a Lego builder," Andrew proclaimed after spending more than an hour building the tractorlike robot. That was a mistake, though, because he had jumped too far ahead of the MindStorms computer tutorial program that teaches how to assemble and program the RCX step by meticulous step.

After disassembling the Torbot, Andrew found the tutorial easier to follow. The RCX programs are pieced together, like the Lego bricks themselves, on the computer screen using easy-to-understand, color-coded blocks. The blocks contain computer programming instructions that in proper sequence can make the robot roll for a second, stop, turn or back up when it hits a wall.

After a while and with the help of his little sister, Laura, to find all the right parts for a simpler robot called Pathfinder 1, Andrew became fired up as the tutorial presented more complex and challenging programing instructions.

"Oh, tight! Maybe this is interesting," he said. "I've got some ideas for this sucker."

Soon, he had the Pathfinder 1 rolling and spinning along the kitchen floor, banging into walls and automatically backing away. Andrew hurriedly ran back and forth at each stage of the tutorial to test out the latest program.

"This is like randomizing in C++," he said, comparing the MindStorms' programming language to the computer language he is learning in high school.

Eventually, he programmed the Pathfinder to start, stop, start, stop in rapid succession, rolling and jumping herky-jerky across the length of the kitchen floor.

"Check out my low-rider," Andrew said. "This is seriously awesome."

Laura giggled.

The next morning, though, Andrew became impatient with having to go through the rest of the tutorial before venturing out to program the RCX for new challenges. He set the Pathfinder down to gather dust, along with his Lego ships and forts.

"I used to play with this all the time, and you know what happened?" Andrew said. "I grew up. This is very time consuming."

He went back to listening to his CDs and talking on the phone with friends.